East Montgomery News: County Judge Doyal, with new attorney Hardin, pleads for reinstatement

For out look at county judges and - sort of - the judiciary.

- Click here for the article.

In an emotional plea Tuesday, Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal asked members of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to reverse his suspension and let him return to the Commissioners Court bench.

However, the commission does not expect to make a decision before its regular meeting session Aug. 10-12.

Chair Valerie Ertz said Doyal would be notified through his legal counsel. Tuesday’s hearing included seven of the 13 members of the commission.

The commission suspended Doyal June 28 after a Montgomery County grand jury indicted him on charges of conspiring to circumvent the Texas Open Meetings Act. The grand jury also indicted Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jim Clark and political consultant Marc Davenport on the same charge.
High-profile Houston-based defense attorney Rusty Hardin, who is now representing Doyal, stressed that since Doyal does not perform judicial functions, the commission should reverse its decision.

“I do not think it is appropriate … for a nonjudicial officer to be suspended,” said Hardin, noting it is “more appropriate” for the issue to be left to the criminal process.
Doyal told the commission it is not within his authority to perform judiciary duties.

However, the commission said while he may not be performing those duties, it does fall within the scope of his position and therefore falls under the jurisdiction of the commission.

From the Texas Association of Counties: GUIDE TO TEXAS LAWS FOR COUNTY OFFICIALS

This won't make the responsibilities of counties any simpler to understand, but it lays them out. This will be useful for the classes where we're walking through local governments

- Click here for the document.

From the Texas Tribune: An Inquest Into the Texas Way of Death

The lack of an autopsy, plus that fact the county judge mad a decision about the cause of death without  seeing the body, raises questions about how death is handled in Texas.

- Click here for the article.

About two dozen states including Texas, use a local coroner system under which someone is elected or appointed to verify that a deceased individual is, well, dead.

In Texas, the coroner's role falls to the 817 elected justices of the peace, The JPs marry couples, handle small claims disputes and come when called, usually by law enforcement, to verify death when someone doesn't die in a hospital or when a doctor cannot — or will not — sign a death certificate.

"I'm the coroner, and everything," explained David Beebe, one of the two justices of the peace in Presidio County who were called on Saturday to come to Cibolo Creek Ranch, 28 miles southwest of Marfa, after Scalia, a guest of the resort's owner, was discovered dead in his room.

But both Beebe and Presidio County's other JP, Juanita Bishop, were too far away, so the Presidio County Sheriff's Office contacted the county's chief executive, or county judge, Guevara.

What happened next speaks to the remoteness of Texas geography and the nation's haphazard system of managing death.

Thea Whalen, an attorney who trains JPs at the Texas Justice Training Center in Austin, said the state's size and population distribution is something many fail to grasp.

Replacing El Franco Lee

Lee was a Harris County Commissioner - Precinct One - and died about a month ago. The timing of his death has made replacing him problematic. County commissioner is one of the many positions that will be filled in the November election, the competition will be - for all practical purposes - between the candidates offered by the Democratic and Republican Parties. Those candidates will be determined in the upcoming primary election on March 1st. Most attention will be paid to the race for the presidential nomination. County commissioner will be among what are called down ballot races because, despite the impact of the office, few voters really pay attention to them.

As far as the process for replacing Lee in office right now, as well as replacing him on the ballot, we have to look to the Texas Electoral Code. 2306 students will become familiar with it soon enough, 2305 students should note that the rules for primary elections - with few exceptions - are set by the state, meaning by the state legislators, who are also members of each political party. So in reality, each party - through its elected officials - gets to determine the rules associated with elections. The exceptions are related to timing and a few other matters related to the race for the presidential nomination.

Existing law states that the county judge can name the temporary replacement, which was done recently as Judge Ed Emmett named Gene Locke to fill the position until November.

- Click here for New Harris County commissioner sworn in to finish El Franco Lee's term.

For a look at the process for replacing Lee on the ballot, click here and here.

This text is from Carroll Robinson's website.

The Issue

During the past few days, there has been a great deal of speculation about the legal process for selecting someone to replace the late Commissioner El Franco Lee on the November 2016 General Election ballot. (Texas Election Code, Subchapter C. Sections 172.057, 172.058 and 172.054 (1).)

The Primary Ballot – No Options

Under the state election code, Commissioner Lee’s name cannot be removed from the March Democratic Party Primary Election ballot, and the deadline for extending the filing deadline to allow other people to add their name to the primary ballot has passed. (Texas Election Code, Subchapter C, Section 172.058(b) and Subchapter B, Sections 145.035 and 145.036.)

General Election Ballot

Under the Texas Election Code, once the March Primary Election and Run-Off has concluded, the Democratic Precinct Judges in Commissioners Court Precinct 1 will meet to select a replacement candidate to appear on the November ballot for a full four-year term. Under the law, there is no option of a Special Election for selecting a replacement candidate for the November General Election ballot.

Sitting Elected Officials

Under the law, a person’s name cannot appear on the ballot for two positions. This means that currently elected officials up for re-election this year cannot be listed on the ballot for both Commissioner and re-election to their current office.

If A State Legislator Is Selected As The Replacement

In the event a state legislator is selected as the ballot replacement for the Precinct 1 position, his/her legislative office position on the November ballot would become available. To fill that position, a separate appointment process would occur, with the precinct judges of that specific jurisdiction selecting a replacement in the event no other candidate is on the primary ballot for that position. There is some confusion over the eligibility of current officeholders whose existing term would overlap in part or totally. Specifically, the eligibility of a municipal elected official to be appointed to a state legislative position. Under current law, any potential replacement would have to resign from office prior to selection to be considered because of the State holdover provision based on an existing Texas Supreme Court decision to possibly be eligible to succeed the legislator. (Wentworth v. Meyer, 839 S.W. 2nd 766 (Tex. 1992) and Texas Attorney General Letter Opinion No. 95-069 (November 7, 1995).)

The Court’s decision raises a number of questions and does not give full clarity on a state constitutional provision that had historically prohibited sitting elected officials from being elected to the legislature if their term of office would overlap with the term of office of the legislative seat they were planning to seek. (Texas Attorney General Letter Opinion No.95-069 (November 7, 1995).)

Questions Still To Be Answered

- We are still researching answers to the following questions.

- How will the meeting of the Precinct Judges to select the replacement be conducted?

- Who will Chair the meeting and how will the Chair be selected?

- What will be the process for individuals to be considered to be the replacement? 

- Can the Precinct Judges retain counsel to advise them on the questions involved in selecting the replacement?

Summary

1. Commissioner Lee’s name will be the only one on the Democratic Party Primary Ballot.

2. In June, the Democratic Party Precinct Judges, residing in Commissioner Precinct 1, elected in the March primary, will select a replacement candidate to appear on the November General Election ballot. The replacement candidate cannot be selected by Special Election.

For some background, click on the following:

- Democracy inaction.
- The Chron on the El Franco Lee successor selection process.
- Sen. Ellis to seek Commissioner’s position.

The state law related to replacing county commissioners can be found in two places in the state code.

The Electoral Code, click here.
The Local Government Code, click here.